It'd be tough to find a Buffalo Sabres fan who walked out of HSBC Arena unfulfilled Friday night. Sure, the Sabres were nowhere to be found for the first 30 minutes (with the exception of Ryan Miller). And, yes, there were turnovers, sloppy passes and a frustrating inability to enter the New York Rangers' zone.

But despite the early malaise, despite the boos, Sabres fans got the only thing they really wanted at the foot of Washington Street.

They got a victory by the home team.

The Sabres may not have been their best, but they nonetheless treated their fans to a 2-1 shootout victory. Derek Roy scored in regulation, and Ales Kotalik buried the only goal in the extra session with a glove-side forehand.

"Anytime you get two points, you're happy," captain Craig Rivet said. "We ended really strong."

The Sabres go for their fifth straight win tonight when they visit the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. If Miller starts in goal again and puts forth a similar effort, Buffalo has a great chance. The goaltender made 43 saves, including 27 in the first two periods as the Rangers controlled play.

"We made a desperate attempt at about 25, 30 minutes of hockey," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "The third period we really played well. I thought we got a full 65 minutes out of Ryan."

The atmosphere for some games in HSBC Arena this season has mimicked that of the Aud. Not the Aud in its heyday, the Aud now.

It was similar in the early going Friday as neither team did much until the Rangers' Paul Mara scored with 36.2 seconds left in the first period.

To say the crowd of 18,385 had grown restless by the middle of the second period would be an understatement. The boos poured at the nine-minute mark, with the Sabres still unable to get anywhere near the Rangers' zone.

In addition to the jeers, the fans were begging and pleading for the Sabres to take a shot. When they finally took their first of the period — a soft Roy attempt from the faceoff circle with 10:04 left — the reaction was as if Pat LaFontaine were feeding Alex Mogilny or the French Connection was speeding up ice.

Finally, with 3:24 to go in the second, the Sabres' top line gave the crowd a real reason to cheer — and it was as if the French Connection really was speeding up ice.

Roy skated to center ice and fed left wing Thomas Vanek at the blue line. He immediately went cross ice to Drew Stafford, who took a hard shot that goaltender Stephen Valiquette blocked but didn't stop. Roy streaked in alone and whacked the rebound between Valiquette's pads.

With that, despite being outshot by a 27-11 margin, the Sabres were in a 1-1 tie.

"That was a big goal for us," Roy said. "We didn't have a shot for 10 minutes, and the crowd obviously felt we weren't working hard or getting pucks to the net. We made a great play, and after that we got pucks to the net and guys started moving their feet in the offensive zone."

When the teams got to the third period, the Sabres and their fans were ready. Buffalo took nine of the first 12 shots in the opening six minutes, and the appreciative crowd cheered good shifts and started chants unprompted. The enthusiasm carried through the overtime and into the shootout, where Miller and Kotalik were perfect.

The Sabres head to a winning atmosphere tonight. The Red Wings are the fourth-most productive team at home this season, accumulating 32 points in their 20 games. They've gone 15-3-2 in Joe Louis Arena, including 11-1 in their last 12 games.

Detroit is 7-3-1 against the Eastern Conference, but the Sabres' Northeast Division mates have given the boys from Hockeytown trouble. The Wings are just 1-3 against the Northeast, having lost to Toronto, Montreal and Boston while beating Ottawa.

"That's a big matchup for us, a big game," Sabres defenseman Jaroslav Spacek said. "We've got the speed, and if we follow those 35 minutes we played [Friday], I think it will be a good game."